Splunk Search

Splunk ES detecting changes to OS auth files

proylea
Contributor

Hi All
We have a request to generate a notable event in Splunk ES for any changes made in the linux OS to /etc/passwd and groups
Does ES have a built in search to detect such a change?
I have no desire to re-invent the wheel

0 Karma

starcher
Influencer

That would be reliant on you having data that comes into Splunk that indicates file changes. A good place to start is OSQuery. You can use that to collect such data. Then map the data to the Common Information Model and then make your desired correlation search on that. The old fschange input type in Splunk has been deprecated for a long time so you shouldn't rely on it.

0 Karma

proylea
Contributor

The data input is done and normalised, I guess my question is what will ES do with that information out of the box?

Do I need to write the correlation search or does ES already have one that covers this security scenario?

ie. will ES generate a notable based on that input and changes to passwd and groups files?

Is there an inbuilt ES correlation that just needs to be turned on?

0 Karma
Got questions? Get answers!

Join the Splunk Community Slack to learn, troubleshoot, and make connections with fellow Splunk practitioners in real time!

Meet up IRL or virtually!

Join Splunk User Groups to connect and learn in-person by region or remotely by topic or industry.

Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Monitoring AI Agents with Splunk Observability Cloud

Let’s say I’m running a travel planning AI app in production. A user asks for three concise hotel options in ...

[Puzzles] Solve, Learn, Repeat: Tiling

This puzzle (first published here) is based on finding groups of tessellated tiles (inspired by floor tiles I ...

SOK it to Me: Top 3 Benefits of Using Splunk Operator on Kubernetes that’ll Make ...

    Thursday, July 9, 2026  |  11:00AM–12:00PM PDT Duration: 1 hour (includes Q&A) Managing can feel like a ...